


Presents

by ama



Category: Band of Brothers, The Pacific - Fandom
Genre: Canon Jewish Character, Christmas, Established Relationship, Gift Giving, Hanukkah, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-09
Updated: 2014-12-09
Packaged: 2018-02-28 19:12:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2743928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ama/pseuds/ama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liebgott and Snafu celebrate Christmas. Or Hanukkah? They celebrate something.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Presents

**Author's Note:**

> I know it's not Hanukkah yet, but my school's Hanukkah party is tonight, so it's close enough. Hopefully more Liebgott/Snafu fics are in my future.

Joe Liebgott spent most of Christmas Day the best possible way he knew how: sleeping. He woke up at eight o’clock out of habit and spent a few moments grumpily wishing he didn’t have to go to work before remembering that that was in fact that case. Then, in a more pleasant state of mind, he extricated his left arm and leg from Snafu’s cat-like grip and tried to get out of bed.

“’S Christmas,” Snafu mumbled. “You ain’t going nowhere.”

“I’m going to take a piss.” Joe went to the bathroom and then hovered in the doorway, casting a hesitant look at the kitchen. “You want me to put on coffee or something? Breakfast?”

The only response was an irritated yowl, muffled by the pillow, so Joe just chuckled to himself and slipped under the covers again.

“You’re fucking nuts,” he said affectionately, as possessive limbs grabbed him once more.

They dozed, on and off, for another four or five hours until they agreed it was time for food. Snafu put actual effort into making himself scrambled eggs and bacon, and dug the last remains of a loaf of cornbread from the pantry, while Joe decided that he only had the energy to make a bowl of cereal. He sat at the kitchen table and let his gaze rest idly on Snafu’s back as the other man fiddled with the stove. Snafu had started wearing a sweater to bed, which was unusual given his typical disdain for a shirt. Yes, their apartment didn’t have great heating and it was mildly chilly, but since the war Joe had found himself rather forgiving of cold weather. Snafu, clearly, disagreed, and the big green sweater nearly swallowed him up.

Finally Snafu finished cooking and sat down with his plate and two beers at the kitchen table. He tried to put his feet up on Joe’s lap, but his feet were cold and Joe shoved them off, and he had to be content with curling up in the kitchen chair. There were a few peaceful minutes of science.

“Did you get me a Christmas present?” Snafu asked suddenly.

“Nope. Sorry.”

“You don’t treat me right, I’m going to walk out on you someday,” he warned. Joe snorted.

“Snaf, I’ve been trying to get you to leave since the day you got here,” he pointed out, and was met with an unapologetic grin.

“Yeah, well.” Snafu opened his beer and drained half of it in one gulp. “I got you something.”

“For Christmas?”

“For Chanukah,” he clarified, pronouncing each syllable independently.

Joe’s surprise must have shown on his face; he couldn’t think of anything to say. Snafu stared at him with that striking gaze that, at some point, had ceased to be intimidating for him, and after a moment he stood and went back to the bedroom. Joe heard the closet door open, and Snafu returned with a package wrapped in brown paper, which he deposited next to Joe’s bowl of cereal. It made a heavy thunk when it hit the table.

“Here,” he said simply.

“Jesus, Snafu, you don’t have to—”

“I already did.”

“Open it.”

Joe put his spoon down and slipped one finger under the paper. Then he paused and looked up at Snafu again with a little bit of a smirk.

“It’s not Chanukah yet.”

“Open the damn present, Liebgott.”

Joe chuckled to himself and ripped open the package. In it he found a menorah. It had nine thick branches of brass, engraved with a geometric pattern, and he could tell it had been bought secondhand; the finish was worn and there were black marks where candles had burned down and scorched the metal. Instantly, his mind rushed back to the menorah they had used in his parent’s house when he was a child—silver, with swooping branches, brought over from Germany in his grandfather’s knapsack. He hadn’t thought about it in a while.

His hand tightened on the base of the menorah, and he loved it instantly.

“Thanks, Merriell,” he said gruffly.

“Shit,” Snafu said with a snort. “First name means I did something right, huh? That’s what you use on Chanukah, right?”

“Yeah, it is.”

He set the menorah and its wrapping aside, and gestured for Snafu to come closer. Snafu kissed him without waiting for it and Joe pulled him close, one hand running through his curls and the other clutching at the thick, warm fabric of his sweater. Kissing Snafu was always a bit of a compromise—Joe tended to be a quick kisser, impatient, while Snafu was lazy and indulgent, and prone to slow down just to be annoying. This kiss, however, was easy. If they were different men, it might even be called sweet.

“What’d you do that for?” Joe asked when they broke apart, and maybe it wasn’t the most romantic thing to say, but they had never been the romantic couple.

“I wanted to,” Snafu said with a shrug, and he deposited himself in Joe’s lap. “I don’t know. Last year you didn’t celebrate any holidays or go to that synagogue or nothing, but I thought it seemed like you did more this year. Figured it’d be nice to celebrate with somebody, if you’re still not talking to your family, and…” He trailed away and wrapped a lock of Joe’s hair around his finger. He looked almost embarrassed. “Seemed like the kind of thing someone like me should do with you.”

“Shit,” Joe muttered under his breath. “Has it been that long?”

“Hm?”

“I mean have you really been here for a year?”

“Longer,” Snafu said casually as he reached across the table to retrieve his cornbread and then, having stuffed the cornbread into his mouth, the two beers, one of which he opened and handed to Joe. “We been together for almost two years now, we got a new apartment, you met my mama—”

“I pulled up in a car and saw her from twenty feet away, I don’t know if that counts—”

“Face it, mon cher, we are going steady.”

He grinned and pressed a kiss to Joe’s temple, and then turned most of the way around to continue his breakfast. He was still sitting in Joe’s lap, which would have made it difficult for Joe to eat his own breakfast if he was concerned with that, but at the moment he wasn’t. He was simply staring at the back of Snafu’s head and trying to make sense of the fact that this accidental relationship had lasted for almost two years. All he had wanted to do was pick up some stranger in a bar. That was it. He had absolutely no idea how Snafu had managed to worm his way into staying for _two years_ , although he had a sneaking suspicion it was similar to the way he had managed to keep both of them in bed an extra four hours on Christmas Day.

“I’ll get you something for Christmas,” Joe murmured, resting his head on Snafu’s back.

“Blowjob?” Snafu suggested promptly, and Joe rolled his eyes.

“Something special. Tomorrow, when the stores open.”

“Could give me a special blowjob right now.”

“I’m trying to be romantic, Snaf.”

Snafu grinned at him over his shoulder.

“Ain’t you sweet. Merry Christmas, Joe.”

“Yeah, yeah. Happy Chanukah.”


End file.
